Digital cameras have introduced an increased level of sophistication and capabilities. Currently even entry-level consumer cameras have a plethora of settings and options designed for taking pictures in different photographic conditions. Such include automatic focus, and automatic aperture and shutter speed settings.
Digital cameras are also becoming increasingly affordable. Unfortunately, as cameras are becoming more affordable, the sophistication of the users is reduced. Accordingly, most users do not understand the concept of horizons, diagonals and strong points, and how to use such features when composing a photograph. As a result most users instinctively line up the subject of a photographic scene with the centre of the viewfinder of the camera. This composition mistake usually results in photographs that are uninteresting and bland.
Generally a good understanding of elements of composition is required in order to capture a good photograph. Such elements include subject size, subject placement, the concept of balance, eliminating dead space, the direction of leading lines, subject framing and the like. While modem cameras have improved the technical aspects of photography, camera manufactures have not successfully implemented proven ways to help camera users improve picture composition.
FIG. 1 shows a viewfinder 100 of a conventional camera. The viewfinder 100 includes a composition guide in the form of a marker 101 positioned in the centre of the viewfinder 100. The marker 101 illustrated is in the form of a circle, but is also often in the form of a box or a cross. The viewfinder 100 also includes additional markers 111 through 114 for indicating the field of view that would be captured by the camera. Markers 111 through 114 help the user of the camera to frame a photographic image. However, markers 111 through 114 do not aid the user in obtaining a more pleasing picture composition.
Some prior art cameras attempt to overcome this deficiency by providing additional composition guide markers in the viewfinder, with the composition guide markers derived from well-known composition rules. Such composition guide markers include: (a) horizontal lines dividing the visual field into thirds, (b) “strong” composition points, and (c) two diagonal lines intersecting one third of the way in the lower half of the visual field. In these prior art cameras the user is required to manually select a marker which is appropriate for a current photographic scene from the different composition guide markers provided. However, such a selection can only be made properly if the user has a good understanding of the various photographic composition rules. In the absence of such understanding the composition guide markers provided may not provide significant assistance to the novice user. In addition, an attempt to select the appropriate composition marker takes time, which may cause the photographic moment to be lost.
A composition guidance system exists in a prior art camera which consists of one of three different fixed markers in the form of outlines indicating the size of subjects, with the system deciding which of the three fixed markers to use by taking account of the camera's lens focal distance. A camera system has also been proposed in the prior art which utilises a template as the picture composition guide. Both types of composition guides limit a photographic scene to the selected marker. In other words, the composition guide marker remains the same irrespective of the photographic scene.
In the art there is disclosed a camera system capable of analysing a photographic scene at either the pre capture or the post capture stage and then providing suggestions to the camera user in order to “correct” a bad composition. In the case of post capture analysis the composition suggestion system provides a set of cropped images correcting the composition mistake. Cropping is limited to the original captured photographic scene. Therefore the cropped images are often undesirable because they are lower in resolution compared to the original image. In the case of pre capture analysis the composition suggestion system interactively provides instructions for moving the camera in a direction specified by the camera system. These types of active composition suggestions have the disadvantage of taking the creativity away from the user.
In view of the foregoing there is a need for a user-friendly picture composition guidance system that leaves creativity solely in the hands of a camera user and assists the user in taking good pleasing pictures.